SHILLONG, May 5: The state BJP has asked the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to extend the last date for registration to Common University Entrance Test (CUET) 2022.
The application process for the CUET 2022, which commenced on April 6, will be closed by the National Testing Agency on May 6.
In a letter to the union education minister on Wednesday, state BJP president Ernest Mawrie said that “hardly anybody” in the state is aware of the all-India entrance test.
“The situation that will arise is that no student in the whole state will be eligible for admission to B.A., B.Com, B.Sc and other undergraduate courses,” he said.
The BJP president also contended that that number of candidates will be too high to be accommodated in the lone examination centre.
“Even if they (students) manage to apply at the last moment, it would be difficult for them to give the examination since there is only one online exam centre in Shillong and none in any other town. The number of Class XII-passed students will be too high to be accommodated in the exam centre,” Mawrie said.
“There will be a big crisis in June-July, which is the time when the admission process is normally carried on in the colleges. There is even danger of serious breakdown of law and order,” he added.
It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, after calling on the union education minister, had informed that students seeking admission to the undergraduate courses offered by private colleges or colleges funded by the state government will not require to appear for the CUET 2022.
However, Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui on Wednesday said that the Meghalaya Government is yet to receive any official communication from the central government on exemption from CUET for the state.
“We expect to get the notification from the Centre at the earliest. But we took the assurance of the Union Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, during his meeting with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on the exemption of CUET as final,” Rymbui told reporters.
The CUET, which has been introduced for admission to all undergraduate courses in central universities, provides a common platform and equal opportunities to candidates across the country, especially those from rural and other remote areas and help establish better connections with the universities.
A single exam will enable the candidates to cover a wide outreach and be part of the admission process to various central universities.
The University Grants Commission (UGC), in its letter dated March 27, 2022, informed the Vice-Chancellors of all central universities that the National Testing Agency has been assigned to conduct CUET.
The North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) had also informed that all admissions into undergraduate courses in colleges affiliated to it will be through the CUET.
NEHU spokesperson, Dr David Pyngrope, had made it clear that the NEHU, which is the only central university in the state, is bounded by the rules and regulations of the UGC.
